Iowa Dem Accepts $250K from Epstein-Linked Billionaire Who Stayed at Townhouse, Flew to Island
A $250,000 campaign contribution to Iowa State Auditor and gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand (D-IA) was made by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, whose visits to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, New York townhouse, and New Mexico ranch are documented in emails released by the Department of Justice.
The Iowa GOP flagged the donation in a February press release, pointing to Hoffman’s well-documented history with Epstein. Hoffman, a longtime Democrat financier and founder of LinkedIn, is featured in Justice Department documents detailing plans to visit Epstein’s private island, his New Mexico ranch, and his Manhattan townhouse. One email from Epstein’s assistant about a 2014 itinerary includes the note, “Reid will take a Virgin America flight… to Fort Lauderdale,” part of travel arrangements described elsewhere in the documents as a trip to Epstein’s private island, Little St. James.
Further emails released by the DOJ show Epstein telling his assistant, “I have [Reid’s] passport. Found in the gift bag they had given me.” In another, Epstein casually references Hoffman in correspondence with Elon Musk, inquiring about holiday plans at St. Barts. Neither Hoffman nor any other figures mentioned in the documents have been charged with any crime related to Epstein.
Despite Hoffman’s past admissions — including acknowledging his visit to Epstein Island and a planned overnight stay at Epstein’s New York townhouse in 2014 — he has defended the interactions as being associated with MIT fundraising efforts. He later told the Wall Street Journal, “It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation… I am sorry for my personal misjudgment.”
Hoffman helped fund E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump through a nonprofit organization he primarily financed, according to court disclosures. He has also funneled money through various progressive nonprofit networks, including the Good Information Foundation—an organization accused by attorney Preston Moore of offering payments to social media influencers to produce anti-Trump content, in apparent violation of federal tax law governing 501(c)(3) groups. In 2024, Hoffman’s longtime political adviser, Dmitri Mehlhorn, reportedly emailed journalists suggesting that the assassination attempt on Trump may have been staged—suggesting it was a “classic Putin play”—and urged the media to explore the theory publicly.
Iowa Republicans are calling on Sand to address the Hoffman contribution directly. “Will he return the money, or is this who he really answers to? Iowans deserve to know,” said Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy.
This donation follows a $50,000 contribution Sand previously accepted from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat described by the Iowa GOP as “one of the most liberal governors in the country,” whose administration has enacted policies including taxpayer-funded gender transitions for minors, sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants, a no-cash-bail law, and some of the strictest gun control measures in the nation.
During a recent appearance on Iowa Press, Rob Sand suggested the idea of a “two-tiered property-tax system,” where property owned by non-residents would be taxed differently than property owned by Iowans. Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann stated the idea “clearly unconstitutional,” citing both the Iowa Constitution’s requirement that all laws “operate uniformly” and the U.S. Constitution’s Privileges and Immunities Clause, which prohibits discrimination against citizens of other states. “Rob Sand isn’t breaking new ground; he’s suggesting breaking the law,” Kaufmann remarked. “Either Rob Sand is trying to deceive Iowans into thinking he’s found some new solution, or he doesn’t understand the law he’s sworn to uphold. Which is worse?”
